Chapter 72 - 68: Close Family

Chapter 72: Chapter 68: Close Family

Jiang Wanyi was a pretty decent driver. With little traffic on the roads at night, she made it home quickly.

"Mili, look at Grandma..."

"Goo-goo, ga-ga..."

The moment she stepped inside, she heard her mother cooing to the baby.

She slipped off her shoes and went inside. Without even taking off her coat, she went straight to the playpen and scooped up little Mili.

"Let Mama hold you."

It wasn’t so bad when she was with Chen Yuan, but the moment they parted, she missed her daughter terribly and couldn’t wait to get home to her.

Seeing her now, she finally felt at ease.

An older woman with short hair was sitting on the sofa—it was Jiang Wanyi’s mother, Liu Fengzhi.

"I thought you had a meeting at work. Why are you back so late?"

"Um..."

Jiang Wanyi felt a pang of guilt.

"I hadn’t seen my colleagues in a long time, so we all had dinner together."

"Male colleagues?"

"Mom, can you please not read too much into it? There were a lot of us, both men and women."

"If you were just having dinner with colleagues, why did you change your clothes and put on perfume?"

"I’m going out for dinner. Can’t I dress up a little?" Jiang Wanyi replied guiltily.

"But this just makes me worry. And don’t try to hide it from me. If you meet someone suitable, you should just go for it."

"I’m not looking. I’ll just raise my child on my own."

"Don’t be ridiculous. How can you run a household without a man!"

Jiang Wanyi was at a loss for words. Her mother wasn’t wrong.

’If it weren’t for Chen Yuan, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through this time.’

"Okay, okay, let’s drop it. I’m going to give the baby her bath."

"You’re always like this whenever I bring it up."

Afraid her mother would press the issue, Jiang Wanyi quickly left with the baby in her arms.

After bath time, she returned to her room to put the baby to sleep.

After her feeding, Jiang Wanyi gently patted her daughter. A deep sense of contentment filled her as she watched the baby slowly drift off to sleep in her arms.

At the same time, she thought about what her mom had said.

’She’s right. It really is hard to run a household without a man...’

’But then again, having Chen Yuan is enough.’

...

First period on Tuesday was Engineering Drawing.

Chen Yuan considered his talent for drawing to be decent. The professor never criticized his work and would even praise him on occasion.

It’s like they say: not every child cries all day, and not every gambler loses every hand.

Who else but Sheng Kangming could bomb every single subject?

After their class in Academic Building 1, they returned to the main teaching building for their second period: University Student Mental Health.

During class, everyone was doing their own thing—chatting, scrolling through risqué content on their phones... Other than the studious Brother Wei, not a single person was paying attention to the lecture.

Which, in a way, just went to show that everyone’s mental state was perfectly healthy.

"What the hell is up with Third Bro, that bastard? The girl next to him must be a computer science major, right? I’ve been watching them talk all class long," Liu Shiyu said.

"Looks like our dorm is about to produce a simp. So tragic," Sheng Kangming lamented.

"He’s just desperate not to let his circumcision go to waste, simping all over the place."

Chen Yuan didn’t join their discussion and messaged Fang Youning instead.

The results for the top 15 were out. He had placed second.

Fang Youning didn’t say who took first place, but it wasn’t hard to guess. It was her.

Chen Yuan: "When’s the competition?"

Fang Youning: "Barring any surprises, it should be this Friday. But if something comes up and the school administration needs the auditorium, it might get postponed to next week."

Chen Yuan: "OK."

Just as class was about to end, Sun Pengnan returned.

"Boss, heard you made it to the next round of the campus singing competition?"

Liu Shiyu and Sheng Kangming both whipped their heads around to look at Chen Yuan.

Liu Shiyu: "When did that happen? How come we didn’t know?"

Sheng Kangming: "Boss, you’re awesome! Our dorm has finally produced some real talent."

Sun Pengnan: "Honestly, Fourth Bro, you’re more famous on campus than Boss is."

Liu Shiyu: "I’ve heard that too. The guys from the Rongcheng Association are always posting on the school forums looking for you."

Sheng Kangming: "Fuck off, all of you! We’re talking about Boss’s achievement right now!"

The trio’s attention shifted back to Chen Yuan.

"I’m already in the top 15, and you three knuckleheads are just now finding out? Aren’t you being a bit unfilial?"

"Well, you never told us! Does making the top 15 mean you get to compete in the auditorium?" Liu Shiyu said.

"Mhm, it’ll probably be on Friday, but that might change."

"We’ll be there to cheer you on. We can’t lose when it comes to morale."

"Ah, you always wish you had more kids when you need them..."

The morning’s classes ended amidst a flurry of playful curses and insults.

He returned to his dorm to rest after lunch. With the competition set for Friday, he had plenty of time to prepare.

He could take his time thinking about what to sing. But he probably wouldn’t find a suitable song among Chinese children’s songs.

But that wasn’t a major issue. The real problem he needed to solve was Song Jianye’s insomnia.

He didn’t know what was causing the insomnia, but going to bed after midnight every day wasn’t sustainable in the long run, even if it was manageable for now.

With this in mind, Chen Yuan called his mom.

"Hey Mom, what are you up to?"

"I’m out shopping. Bought some clothes, got my hair done. What’s up? Spit it out, I’m busy."

"I just sent you money yesterday, and you’re already out on a shopping spree today? I thought we agreed you were saving that for my future wife?"

"Oh, that... Hehehe... Mom’s spending her own salary! Your money is safely in savings. Now, was there something you needed?"

"I wanted to ask you something. That summer after the college entrance exams, I had insomnia for over a month. How did I end up getting over it? It’s not like I had any academic pressure back then."

"That was just because you had nothing to do. You played on your phone all day, napped in the afternoon when you got tired, then woke up and kept playing. Who on earth could possibly fall asleep at night with a schedule like that?"